The corrosion of honesty and of language in public life is corrupting our politics. Public discourse has degenerated into name-calling, false accusations, and fear-mongering.

Despite many predictions, American voters did not decisively repudiate President Donald Trump and his dishonest and divisive media show. Based on the election returns, Trumpism is very much alive. While the Democrats’ won control of the U.S. House, they need far more than a one-issue campaign to win the presidency.

They need to build their brand and vision to reflect America’s desperate need for middle-of-the-road stability and practical solutions to the real challenges that have gone unmet.

American elites, especially those running the two major parties, have become disconnected with large parts of the country and the hardships faced by many, many Americans. Trump has filled a vacuum. He has masterfully exploited the populist instincts of political unrest. And turned American politics into a spectacle of disinformation, fear; and ethnic, racial and tribal divisions.

Trump well understands the political and self-promotional opportunities afforded by reality television, personal tweets, social media and 24/7 entertainment. He is part — both product and ringmaster — of a culture that thrives on immediate sensation and endless distraction. Our current culture — accustomed to mass-produced, mind-deadening entertainment — seems now prone to quick answers to complex political and social problems.

Citizens avidly follow the national political soap opera. Television, the internet, and social media form an echo chamber that reverberates with spectacle and diversion. All this fosters civic illiteracy and passivity.

We may have arrived at the point at which each of us can create his very information cocoon. We can find compatriots on social media, live in gated communities — whether by wealth or tribe or political bent — and take “alternative facts” as gospel.

To those whose lives are burdened with bleak realities, escapism into these attractions provides a measure of comfort. Trump gives them recognition and attention.

President Trump has capitalized on Washington’s failure and the vacuity of national leadership. He projects an ever-present dominance.

Facts become what he says they are — “alternative facts.” He regards the truth as inconvenient. He contemptuously ridicules those who disagree with him — most pointedly, his opponents and the news media.

He employs his skills as a reality television performer and a maestro of the spectacle to keep the populace engaged. He plays the celebrity-addicted culture with self-assurance. Entertainment displaces fact and truth. The lines between reality and illusion have become dangerously blurred.

Celebrity culture transforms citizens into spectators. The president ushers his supporters into a fabricated world of ideology and conspiracy, shunning open dialog, and disregarding evidence and reason.

Trump invites Americans to join him in an elaborate deception. The Democrats, the Washington establishment and the news media are no longer the loyal opposition, the legitimate government and the constitutionally protected Fourth Estate — they are the enemy.

Trump-style politics diminishes the possibilities for thinking critically and undertaking actions to make positive change. This endangers self-government. The prime threat to our democracy is a passive and apathetic citizenry. Freedom and liberty demand an affirmative responsibility and a culture of curiosity, participation and mutual respect.

When reality and reason are purged of their legitimacy, the victims are the democratic process, civil literacy and civic commitment.

The next two years present enormous political challenges. These include the potential constitutional crisis regarding the control of the Justice Department and the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller, the various actions of the Democrat controlled House to rein in Trump, and making sense of the already ongoing campaigns for the 2020 election.

All this drains attention from long-standing unresolved national issues. If the Democrats want to lead, they need to push policies, not partisanship. They need to refrain from chasing media ratings, ala the Trump roadshow.